MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/. Fire-fighters are extinguishing blazes in Russian regions on an area of 129,500 hectares, with most fires located in the Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk and Trans-Baikal Regions, the press service of the Federal Aerial Forest Fire Center reported on Monday. Yesterday, the area scorched by fires exceeded 133,000 hectares.
"By 0:00 Moscow time, July 8, 2019, there were 173 wildfires active on an area of 129,515 hectares on Russian territory, and fire-fighting efforts were underway, including 80 blazes on forest lands covering 90,814 hectares in the Krasnoyarsk Region, 59 blazes covering 26,809 hectares in the Irkutsk Region, and five blazes covering 8,068 hectares in the Trans-Baikal Region," the statement says.
Smaller fires were reported in seven regions of the country: in the Sakha, Buryatia, Trans-Baikal, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk and Amur Regions and the Chukotka Autonomous Region.
About 50 blazes covering 5,500 hectares were put out during the past day. About 3,400 people are currently fighting fires with the use of 518 vehicles; 39 aircraft are monitoring the blazes and 33 aircraft are fighting fires.
According to the Federal Aerial Forest Fire Center, 224 wildfires were active in hard-to-reach and remote areas during the past day. The area scorched by fires was almost 692,500 hectares. The largest blazes were reported in the Sakha and Krasnoyarsk Regions. These blazes are not being extinguished, as costs to put them out exceed the forecasted damage.
A state of emergency is operating across the Krasnoyarsk Region and in some districts of the Ryazan, Trans-Baikal, Irkutsk, Buryatia and Yakutia Regions. A special fire-prevention regime was declared in 42 regions.